Description of Minnesota, US

United States state of Minnesota is a part of the upper Midwest. On May 11, 1858, it was admitted to the union as the 32nd state. Minnesota is the most northerly of the 48 contiguous U.S. states because of a modest stretch of the northern limit. A boundary agreement with Great Britain resulted in this odd protrusion before the area had been thoroughly examined. The state of Minnesota is located in the Midwest region. The Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario are to the north, Lake Superior and Wisconsin to the east, and Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota to the south.

The Red and Rainy rivers run north to Hudson Bay; the Great Lakes flow east to the Atlantic Ocean; and the Mississippi River flows south to the Gulf of Mexico. Even the name of the Mississippi River's primary tributary in Minnesota, the Minnesota River, comes from a Dakota (Sioux) phrase that means "sky-tinted water."

State moniker "Land of 10,000 Lakes" is based on the state's many lakes, which are larger than 10 acres (4 hectares) in area. Minnesota has more than 10,000 lakes larger than 10 acres in area. There are roughly 5,000 square miles (13,000 square kilometers) of inland fresh water. Cold winters and hot summers characterize its continental climate. More than a quarter of Minnesotans are at least partially Scandinavian, although Germans make up the state's most populous ethnic group. Services had overtaken farming, mining, and manufacturing as the state's primary source of income by the end of the 20th century, making them the state's dominating economic activity. Minneapolis–St. Paul is Minnesota's administrative, economic, and cultural center, and the state capital is located in this part of the state.

Geographical Description of Minnesota

In Minnesota, you can find a subarctic forest on the edge of the state's borders, as well as the corn fields of the Midwest. The land's surface was shaped by the movement of glaciers, which froze, thawed, and moved across the state multiple times. What we see today in Minnesota is a testament to the glacial activity that formed it: undulating farmland, thousands of lakes, steep hillsides, and outwash plains that were left behind by the ice sheets. Because of the finely crushed mineral components left by the retreating glaciers, the rich prairie soils of the state were formed. Located about 12 miles (19 kilometers) north of Lake Superior, Eagle Mountain stands at 2,301 feet (701 meters) above sea level and is the highest point in the state of Minnesota.

Minnesota's temperature varies not only from season to season, but also from region to region. Summers in southern Minnesota may be sweltering. Frost can occur at any time of year in the northern parts of the state.

From southern Minnesota's southernmost tip to Lake Superior, daily maximum July temperatures range from the mid-80s F (approximately 29 °C) to low 70s F (about 21 °C). Lows in January range from about 5 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius) to about 5 degrees Fahrenheit (21 degrees Celsius) on average, with highs in the mid-20s F (about 4 degrees Celsius) in the south and about 15 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius) in the north. Temperatures as low as -51 degrees Celsius have been reported near the northern city of Tower in 1996. The average frost-free period varies from less than 90 days in the north to more than 160 days in the southern regions.

In the northwest, the average annual precipitation is less than 20 inches (500 mm). In the southeast, the average annual precipitation is more than 30 inches (750 mm). Winter snowfall in the state varies from less than 40 inches (1,000 mm) in the west to more than 70 inches (1,800 mm) in the northeast. From around the middle of December through the middle of March, much of Minnesota is blanketed with snow.

A needleleaf forest, a hardwood forest, and a tallgrass prairie comprise the state's natural vegetation. There were pine, spruce, and fir trees in the needleleaf forest in the northeastern part of the state. The coniferous forest was surrounded by a belt of hardwoods that spanned from southeastern Minnesota to the Canadian border, passing through the Twin Cities. Some 40 to 80 miles (65 to 130 kilometers) wide, the Big Woods were a hardwood forest. Oak, maple, and basswood were the most common trees, with ash, elm, cottonwood, and box elder found in the stream valleys and along the river banks. On either side of the hardwood forest, there is a large expanse of tallgrass grassland. Much of the natural forest and prairie has been destroyed for agricultural and urban development. Second-growth forests still cover around one-third of Minnesota.

Animals like as deer, raccoons, porcupine porcupines, muskrat muskrats, woodchucks, and squirrels can be found across the state. In the north, you'll find grizzly bears, elk, moose, coyotes, lynx, bobcats, otters, and beavers. Chickadees, woodpeckers, grosbeaks, nuthatches, cardinals, sparrows, and jays are among the year-round birds. The state's most common bird, the red-winged blackbird, is among the most popular migratory songbirds. Egrets, herons and other migratory birds are examples of migratory waterfowl. The state bird is the common loon. For those who don't mind non-native game species like turkeys and pheasants, there are plenty of different game birds to choose from. There are four major raptors: hawks, eaglets, owls and ospreys; they are all important to the ecosystem. There are various southeastern counties where the timber rattlesnake can be found.

Anglers' favorite fish, the walleye, is the official state fish of Minnesota. The northern pike, muskellunge, bass, lake trout, crappie, sunfish, and eelpout are all valuable game fish. In numerous streams, brown and rainbow trout can be found. Lake trout, whitefish, coho and chinook salmon, steelhead, smelt, herring, and ciscoes all inhabit Lake Superior's deep, frigid waters.

Economy of Minnesota

Natural resources including soils, iron ore, and lumber, which were used in the early years of Minnesota's development, spurred the rise of secondary industries like railroad construction, natural resource processing, and agricultural implement production. There was a shift from manufacturing to service in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Agriculture, on the other hand, is one of the state's most important economic drivers.